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Author Topic: 'The Golden Age of Trams: A Streetcar Named Desire' BBC4 Documentary  (Read 3273 times)
JayMac
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« on: December 06, 2011, 00:13:45 »

Shown this evening (5th Dec 2011) and available on BBC» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) iPlayer until 15th December.

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Move along the car! Timeshift takes a nostalgic trip on the tram car and explores how it liberated overcrowded cities and launched the age of commuter. The film maps the tram's journey from early horse-drawn carriages on rails, through steam to electric power.

Overhead wires hung over Britain's towns and cities for nearly 50 years from the beginning of the 20th century until they were phased out everywhere except Blackpool. Manchester, the last city to lose its trams was, however, among the first to reintroduce them as the solution to modern day traffic problems.

The film includes a specially-recorded reading of his short story Leeds Trams by Alan Bennett and contributions from Ken Dodd and Roy Hattersley.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b017zqw8/Time_Shift_Series_11_The_Golden_Age_of_Trams_A_Streetcar_Named_Desire/

Also shown this evening (and available on iPlayer until 12th Dec) is a companion documentary from 1992 about Blackpool trams:

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Warren Clarke narrates the story of the Blackpool tram, once the butt of local jokes, but which is being rediscovered as an efficient solution to the traffic and pollution problems of the 1990s.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0183l6l/Blackpool_Tram/

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eightf48544
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« Reply #1 on: December 06, 2011, 21:52:44 »

It's always struck me tha on street ramways are an ideal traffic calmer.

Very egalitarin in that you don't have to pay specialy to drive on roads with trams, just be mad.

Good programme. Look at the vast crowds they moved in a short time.
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